AN ACT INCREASING FINES FOR VIOLATIONS OF MUNICIPAL BLIGHT ORDINANCES.

SUMMARY:

This bill increases the daily fine that a municipality may impose for violating regulations preventing housing blight from between $
10 and $
100 per day to:

1.
$
100 per day for the first 30 days of the violation,

2.
$
250 per day for the 31st to 60th days of the violation, and

3.
$
500 per day from the 61st day of the violation until it is corrected.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
October 1, 2012

BACKGROUND

Blight Ordinances

By law, municipalities can adopt an ordinance to prevent housing blight and impose fines for each day that a violation continues.
Any unpaid fine imposed by a municipality under a blight ordinance is a lien on the property against which the fine was imposed.
Such liens take precedence over all other liens and encumbrances, except taxes, filed after July 1, 1997 (CGS § 7-148aa).

Municipalities that choose to issue citations for violating anti-blight ordinances must follow a statutory procedure for notifying property owners about alleged violations and their right to a hearing.
Under CGS § 7-152c, the procedure for receiving notice of an alleged violation and for contesting it is the same as that for municipal parking tickets.